British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Media Regulations, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has instructed the BBC to transmit a evening announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our code, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Credibility'
The watchdog's report said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the narrator's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-administered administration was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Confidence is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the significantly high amounts of trust that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the narrator's personal associations were revealed, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
